AbStreiCt. — Complete series of 

 field-collected larvae were used to 

 describe the post-yolksac develop- 

 ment of two common southern Cali- 

 fornia marine sculpins, Clinocottus 

 analis and Orthmiopias triads. Char- 

 acters diagnostic of C. analis include 

 nape pigment, dorsal head pigment, 

 heavy rows of dorsal gut melano- 

 phores, 18-33 postanal ventral mela- 

 nophores (PAVM). Postflexion lar- 

 vae develop multiple preopercular 

 spines (9-12) and several post-tem- 

 poral/supracleithral spines, and later 

 stages also acquire a W-shaped patch 

 of pigment on the body under the 

 second dorsal fin. Characters diag- 

 nostic of Orthonopias triads include 

 a heavy cap of dorsoposterior gut 

 pigment, 26-55 PAVM, occasional- 

 ly one or two dorsocranial melano- 

 phores, and, rarely, one melanophore 

 at the nape; postflexion 0. triads 

 develop four preopercular spines. 

 Comparison with other cottid species 

 is included. 



Field collection data (1978-85) in- 

 dicate C. analis and 0. triads larvae 

 both occur in greatest densities off 

 rocky habitats along the 15 m iso- 

 bath. A key is provided for known 

 preflexion marine sculpin larvae 

 found in southern California. 



Post-yolksac larval development 

 of t\A/o southern California 

 sculpins, Clinocottus analis and 

 Orttionopias triads (Pisces: Cottidae) 



Richard F. Feeney 



Section of Fishes, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County 

 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90007 



Manuscript accepted 6 May 1992. 

 Fishery Bulletin, U.S. 90:4.54-468 (1992). 



Clinocottus analis and Orthonopias 

 triads axe two common marine sctil- 

 pins (Pisces: Cottidae) of the rocky 

 intertidal and subtidal areas of south- 

 ern California (Miller and Lea 1972, 

 Eschmeyer et ai. 1983). The range of 

 C. analis extends from Cape Men- 

 docino, northern California, to Asun- 

 cion Pt., Baja California Sur; 0. tri- 

 ads extends from Monterey, central 

 California, to San Geronimo I., cen- 

 tral Baja California (Fig. 1). 



A description of the embryology 

 and larval development of Clinocot- 

 tus analis was first attempted by 

 Eigenmann (1892) who gave a pre- 

 liminary description of the eggs and 

 yolksac larvae of C. analis from 

 reared eggs obtained in San Diego 

 Bay CA, and subsequently by Budd 

 (1940) from eggs obtained in Monte- 

 rey Bay CA. In both studies the lar- 

 vae died at the end of the yolksac 

 stage. Bolin (1941) described the em- 

 bryology and yolksac development of 

 reared Orthonopias triads. 



Hubbs (1966) described many char- 

 acteristics of C. analis embryology, 

 especially in response to tempera- 

 ture, but gave no description of the 

 larvae. Washington (1986) presented 

 a description of a limited series of 

 postflexion C. analis larvae and juve- 

 niles identified on the basis of meris- 

 tic and morphological characters. A 

 7.0mm 0. triads was previously il- 

 lustrated (Washington et al. 1984). 

 No description, however, of a com- 

 plete larval series of either species 

 exists, despite the common occur- 



rence of adults in California coastal 

 waters and the existence of several 

 partial descriptions of their larval 

 development in the literature. 



The following is a description of 

 larval series for both C. analis and 0. 

 triads based on field-collected spe- 

 cimens from southern California and 

 Baja California, Mexico. Comparison 

 with other cottid species and occur- 

 rence is discussed. A key to known 

 southern California preflexion cottid 

 larvae is included to summarize early- 

 life-history information from many 

 sources including Richardson and 

 Washington (1980), Richardson (1981), 

 Washington et al. (1984), Washing- 

 ton (1986), Feeney (1987), and Mata- 

 rese et al. (1989). This work is in- 

 tended to aid in identification and 

 hopefully stimulate further research 

 on the development of related species. 



Materials and methods 



A total of 145 larvae and 9 juveniles 

 of Clinocottus analis and 322 larvae 

 and 4 juveniles of Orthonopias tria- 

 ds were studied. Specimens were ex- 

 amined from the Scripps Vertebrate 

 Collection (SIO), the Southwest Fish- 

 eries Science Center (SWFSC), the 

 Ctilifomia Academy of Sciences (CAS), 

 and the Natural History Museum 

 of Los Angeles County, Section of 

 Fishes (LACM). 



The SIO specimens (21) are pre- 

 served in 50% isopropanol and were 

 collected in Baja California at Bahia 

 Todos Santos (SIO H5M9B); the lot 



454 



